Center Grove’s Marcus Ankney, center, takes a shot during Wednesday’s game at Greenwood.
CHRIS WILLIAMS | FOR THE DAILY JOURNAL
Opening games are often a bit of a mystery under normal circumstances. Greenwood’s lack of experience and Center Grove’s lack of returning firepower added to that uncertainty in Wednesday’s season opener.
The visiting Trojans asserted themselves early, particularly on the defensive end, and built a 23-6 first-half lead. They added to it from there and cruised to a 67-35 win over the host Woodmen.
CG graduated four seniors and also lost standout Tayven Jackson, who will graduate in December. Greenwood, meanwhile, only returned two players with starting experience from last season’s squad.
Turnovers, or lack thereof in Center Grove’s case, proved to be the most telling statistic. Greenwood committed 17 miscues, with the Trojan defense forcing most of them, creeping into the passing lanes repeatedly for steals and transition layups.
Meanwhile, the Center Grove offense lost the ball just twice. One came with just a few seconds remaining in the first half, and the other came on an offensive foul.
“A good game would be six or eight turnovers,” CG coach Zach Hahn said. “That’s a testament to these guys just valuing the basketball.”
Twelve of the Trojans’ 20 first-quarter points came off turnovers, the catalyst for building such a big lead. After CG built the 23-6 cushion, the Woodmen scored seven straight, but the Trojans responded by scoring the next nine points to extend the lead back to 32-13. Greenwood never drew closer than 17 after that. Center Grove led 67-30 with 1:42 to play before the Woodmen scored the game’s final five points.
“You have to play Greenwood a little bit differently because of their offense, and so we knew we had to try to create some chaos on the ball,” Hahn said. “Overall, I thought we did a really good job of keeping guys in front of us and applying pressure.”
“Coach told us the first principle of defense is to jump to the ball, and we did that a lot,” said Center Grove forward Jordan Vaughns, who scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds. “We talked a lot on screens, and our defense thrived the whole game.”
Center Grove also featured balanced scoring. In addition to Vaughns’ contributions, Marcus Ankney and Ethan McComb tied for game-high honors with 13 points apiece. Tyler Cerny added 10 points, while Joey Schmitz and Ajay Holubar chipped in nine and six points off the bench, respectively.
Starting point guard Jalen Bundy led the Trojans with seven rebounds, tying Greenwood’s Cade Kelly for game-high honors.
Carter Campbell led Greenwood with nine points and also grabbed five rebounds. Adam Ellinghausen added eight points, while Jake Mosemann finished with seven for the Woodmen.
“The disappointing part was the number of transition baskets that we gave up and not getting back,” Greenwood coach Joe Bradburn said. “Our toughness, our defensive awareness … that’s something we’ve had a lot of pride in around here, and that was lacking. They pushed us out (defensively), and we have to take care of the ball better than that.”
Greenwood hosts Greenwood Christian on Saturday. Center Grove hosts Franklin Central on Saturday in a game that was moved to 11:45 a.m. to avoid a conflict with the Trojan football team’s Class 6A state championship game that night against Westfield.
